NOVEMBER 2012
observer THE OFFICIAL STUDENT NEWSPAPER OF ESSEX COUNTY COLLEGE
THE STUDENT VOICE
SINCE 1968
The GREAT DEBATE By Jonathan M. Williamson
Now The Voters Will Decide The Direction of the Country
Layout Editor
#helpfindkara News -page 2
Americans tuned in to watch the Democratic incumbent and Republican nominee go after the issues – and each other. Certainly there was a clash of personalities on the stage. And pressure on both candidates to perform: President Obama suffered heavily in the polls after a soporific showing at the first debate, where Obama and moderator, PBS’s Jim Lehrer, were drowned out by an aggressive and well-prepared, if not entirely truthful, Romney. Up until then, a string of major political gaffes abroad, a Republican National Convention derailed by Clint Eastwood, and a damaging video in which Governor Romney Photo Credit: Shuttterstock.com
By the time this paper is in your hands, the November 2012 election determining who will be the next President of the United States of America will be less than a week away. With it ends one of the most contentious – and expensive – presidential races in recent memory, the kind that will likely decide the ideological trajectory of this country for years to come. For the candidates –President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney— the three Presidential Debates represented a final opportunity to make their case to the American people. And for the millions of undecided voters, they may be the tiebreaker in an election where every vote matters.
The three presidential debates and one vice-presidential debate took place over the month of October and covered topics as varied as the economy, the tax code, and domestic and foreign policy. Millions of
Wyclef Jean @ ECC Student Life -page 4
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BLACK FRIDAY Opinions / Editorials -page 6
J.K.Rowling’s New Book Arts -page 7
NaNoWriMo: NATIONAL NOVEL WRITING MONTH Would-be Writers Aim for the Stars in November
24-Hour Event Encourages Smokers to
By Alissa Lopez
interview with a West Caldwell ECC student who wishes to remain anonymous, one girl’s life with cigarettes is unveiled– pre- and post-addiction. With a lighter and pack of Camel menthols ready to burn, anonymous explains, “At first it was about once a week that I picked up a cigarette. However, I found myself smoking more often once final exam season came around… Then, other things happened in life and I was finding more excuses to smoke due to stress. Finally, I just accepted the fact that I was addicted and smoked 3 to 5 times a day.” Many addictions from coffee to cocaine begin with a laid back apcontinued on page 2 Photo Credit: Wintella Powell
Will you mark the end of a lifetime of smoking? November 15th is recognized as the Great American Smoke Out. First introduced 1974 by Lynn Smith, the publisher of the Monticello Times, the American Cancer Society sponsors the event. The GASO encourages smokers across the country to give up their packs of cigarettes for 24 hours. The idea is that many will quit smoking altogether. Once an addict accomplishes the challenge, a day without cigarettes can lead to a lifetime. As the 37th Annual Smoke Out, the movement aims towards instilling awareness and motivation within the hearts of young and old tobacco addicts. Always on the Thursday before Thanksgiving, the perks of commitment increase with opportunities to brag about newfound freedom from cigarettes around the turkey adorned table. Although the campus stands as a smoke-free environment, finding students with cigarettes in hand is frequent for ECC and virtually all college campuses and public high schools alike, despite the consequences. In an
By Kristen Williamson News Editor
Put Their Cigarettes Down Staff Writer
Photo Credit: Kristen Williamson
The GREAT AMERICAN SMOKEOUT 2012
Do you have a story you want to get out? Perhaps an idea you’ve been sitting on and haven’t found the time to pen, something you’ll write when you don’t have classes, jobs, other responsibilities...in other words, probably never. Then maybe this will get you started! November is National Novel Writing Month, 30 days in which would-be-writers are encouraged to type out 50,000 words of a novel. Nicknamed NaNoWriMo, it started in 1999 with only 21 people and has grown to include over 250,000 participants and over 36,000 winners. To win NaNo, you simply have to hit the word count by the last minute of November 30th. But this is no cake walk. NaNo challenges writers to type out roughly 1,667 words daily in order to make the word count, which is just under 12,000 words a week. 50,000 words may seem like a lofty number, but it only surpasses the limits of a novella, or a short novel, by 10,000 words. Any type of fiction is acceptable, whether it be original material or fanworks based off of an existing fictional world. The motto of NaNo, as stated by project creator Chris Baty is “No plot? No problem!” as it puts more emphasis on quantity over quality to
Essex County College 303 University Ave. Newark, NJ 07102
Photo Credit: NaNoWriMo
get people writing. And while extensive notes are allowed before starting, previous material is discouraged to ensure a proper NaNo experience. Upon discussing National Novel Writing Month with Creative Writing students at Essex, one question that comes up is, “What do I win?” to which the NaNo creators can respond with “Nothing!” There is very little reward for being a participant or a winner of NaNo other than walking away a novelist. However, Create Space – a self-publishing company of Amazon.com – provides NaNo winners with free printed copies of their manuscripts, either for their own use or to send to publishing companies. And quite a few NaNo winners have become published. Both Sarah Gruen’s novel Water for Elephants, a book that eventually found its way to the silver screen, and Erin Morgenstern’s Night Circus, which spent seven weeks on the New York Times Bestseller List, were originally started during NaNoWriMo. Perhaps you’ve decided you do want to write for NaNo and you’re curious how to start. continued on page 2